When i get the new phone can i just restore that phone to my old phones settings (once ive backed up my old phone)? And will the programs I have installed on the old phone show up on the new phone after restore or will I have to download them again in order for them to show up and work properly?

You can restore and everything should be like it was when you sent it in. All the settings, contacts, programs, ringtones. If you have a media card the stuff on that isn't affected as long as you have it set to read as a separate drive. Don't use the card using Desktop Manager. It's really slow.

When i get the new phone can i just restore that phone to my old phones settings (once ive backed up my old phone)? And will the programs I have installed on the old phone show up on the new phone after restore or will I have to download them again in order for them to show up and work properly?

Here is how I did it:

Do a complete backup of your phone from DeskTop Manager [assuming your phone still works].

When the new phone arrives, use DM to install or restore the old phone's backup on to the new Pearl.

Everything will go back on the new phone including programs, settings, contacts, etc.

I assume they will be sending the new phone to you first? On mine, T-Mo simply sent a naked phone, meaning no battery, SIM, or accessories. So make sure to remove your MicroSD card from the old phone [assuming you have one].